


Know Thyself

by AstraKiseki



Category: Exalted
Genre: Dream Sex, Dreams, Dubious Consent, F/M, Rape Fantasy, Sparring, Wet Dream
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-18
Updated: 2012-02-18
Packaged: 2017-10-31 09:27:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/342480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstraKiseki/pseuds/AstraKiseki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because if you don't someone else will... And when you have an Eclipse obsessed with you, that is a Bad Thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Know Thyself

Talayeh sighed as she waited, the only outward sign of her frustration, standing in what she considered as close to formal attire that she could get without losing protection. All dark lavender, a cloak lined with white over a well-made buff jacket with a glimmer of her orichalcum pendant and her bracers under her sleeves, her white hair tightly braided with a heavy golden bead at the end, pinned up as to remove it from her path. If it weren't her gauntlets and the bandages concealing her face, even here in Heaven where she knew there were much more beautiful things than herself, she could almost get away with looking not threatening. Without the bandages, though, the Night was not too sure she wouldn't look threatening. After all, both she and her twin bore the mark of their Exaltations on their brows, Kimiya's half-filled circle and Talayeh's ring.  
  
The Iron Wolf took another slow calming breath, listening for someone approaching, dreading the answer they would bring. Part of her was hoping that fate would smile on her, that he wouldn't be there, but that was the coward's way, and she was going to have to risk another journey into Yu-shan anyway if he wasn't here now. Hell, the Night Caste was mildly impressed and embarrassed that she had known where he could be found in Heaven.  
  
Not that it mattered too much now. She was standing in a townhouse that made her twin's manses look pathetic, waiting to know if the biggest headache in her twenty-something years was in residence so she could ask for his aid. What made things worse was that she knew the damnable godblooded would give it happily. Talayeh had her own contacts among the divine, and whether they were aware of his Exalted status, all knew of his own connections in Heaven, and that is what her Circle so badly needed now. There were Celestial gods connected with sidereals that were harrying the Solars as they worked on restoring Gan-eidn to fully functional glory, and Dreamer was the best chance they had to end the situation without bloodshed.  
  
"My lady?"  
  
Talayeh opened her blue eyes to see the little messenger goddess, made of green-gold feathers that shimmered in the golden light of Yu-shan hovering before her silently, curtsying.  
  
"Master Glorious Light is within. Please follow me."  
  
She nodded, letting out the breath that she had been unconsciously holding as she followed as silently as air. The little goddess led her past statues and artwork that reminded the Iron Wolf of Dro-nagir, her mentor, all passion and fire... She purposely ignored the more... exotic artwork, keeping her eyes forward as she followed the fluttery creature though archways, curtains, and rooms, until she found herself in what seemed to be a modest training room that had branched off from another room, with a small table with refreshments, and a pair of benches on opposite sides.  
  
"Master Glorious Light will be with you shortly." The goddess bowed as she spoke. "You are welcome to practice if desired." With that, she fluttered away.  
  
With a hint of relief, grateful for something familiar and somewhat safe, Talayeh removed her cloak, putting it on one of the two chairs before turning to the hardwood floor and lightly stepped into the painted circle. "Let's begin." The Night caste fell into the fast and furious katas of the Art of Forceful Declaration, forcing her worries away.  
  
She froze for only a moment as she felt a hand block halfway though, with a low chuckle ringing in her ears.  
  
"By Sol Invictus, you never stop, do you, Talayeh?" A light, serene male voice spoke cheerfully, speaking Old Realm with an accent born from years around the divine, hearing it only from such lips.  
  
Talayeh kept her eyes shut, forcing her mind not to think about his face as she continued though her motions, intending to complete it before going into business. In the same ancient tongue, she answered tautly. "An arguer of Valor never stops until all of one's enemies have conceded."  
  
The speaker grunted as she connected again, this time with firm flesh, before answering smoothly. "Ah, yes. I forgot that you are Dro-nagir's pupil in martial arts. But, for once, I'll pass on the sundries. What brings you here?"  
  
"The Gods Casorin, Rori, and Zheng-song are interfering in Gan-eidn, possibly with Sidereal assistance. My Circle needs help, and I know you well enough that you would be able to manage it." Talayeh let out a relieved breath. For once, maybe she would be able to leave without any problems. Dreamer was actually being austere and to the point for once.  
  
"Ah, Bronze Factioners, all of them... And preventing a Perfect Circle from restoring an ancient treasure of the First Age." The Crowned Sun scoffed as the Hidden Sun felt him deflecting one of her punches. "Consider them out of the way, Talayeh. It will take at most a week, but it is simple enough."  
  
After a moment of silence, she felt Dreamer grab her wrist and pulled, moving to the side gracefully and clucking his tongue. "Now, to other things. How can you still wear those... things?" She felt air on her face and she opened her eyes to glare at the smiling darker-skinned Eclipse, his caste mark bright as he held her bandages in his left hand. Again to her slight surprise, he was in about the same garb as other gods she had seen in Yu-shan as she had made her way to his home, though he lacked a waistcoat. A glance away from him confirmed that Dreamer had laid his neatly on the other chair.  
  
"Easily. You should try sometime." Talayeh retorted, lunging for the cloth bandage as the godblooded again glided out of the way, trailing the wrap with an irritating smile.  
  
"Oh no, I prefer to show my face to the world, my dear." Dreamer withdrew from the sparring circle, winding the fabric around his knuckles as Talayeh continued with her katas. "I'm curious though. I have never seen you idle. What do you do for... well," He shrugs, "What do you do for pleasure?"  
  
"Pleasure?" Talayeh glanced at him again as she moved gracefully though another attack. "What do you mean by that?"  
  
"I'm being straight-forward, Talayeh. What do you do when you aren't fighting..." He moved to be in front of her, holding up his bandaged hand, holding up one finger, "patrolling," A second finger went up, "Training," a third, "patrolling-"  
  
"You said patrolling twice."  
  
"You do it quite a lot, Talayeh. My point is, I have never found you doing something that could be constructed as leisure. Other than pestering your sister." He held up a fourth finger. "Even then, you don't lounge about, according to your twin. You are doing your katas, like you are now." He ran his fingers though his dark hair with a hint of agitation as she turned towards him as he stalked about, "For the love of the Unconquered Sun, do you ever relax?" The Eclipse's hands gestured as he grew frustrated.  
  
"How the hell did you-" She preformed a sharp kick in his general direction, gritting her teeth, "-know about Kimiya?"  
  
"Same way that I found out about you, Iron Wolf. The Sisters of Mercy are known here in Yu-shan, though your identities and Exalted state are not." He shrugged. "And on conversing with her, I am quite the lover of sweets, both culinary and..." Dreamer smirked and bowed. "Well, you know. Your sister Spider's and your Falcon's creations are wonderful treats, but it is merely icing on the cake. Delicious, adds to the flavor, but..." He shrugged, turning away. "...beside the point." Dreamer walked to the small table, pouring two crystal goblets, one full of a ruby red liquid and the other with a golden liquid. "I suspect you don't drink wine?"  
  
"Your suspicion would be correct."  
  
"Pity." He turned back to face her with a smile, sitting in the chair where her cloak was. "It would help you unwind."  
  
"... Get off my cloak, Dreamer."  
  
"Why? It's comfortable, and it belongs to you. You never seem to indulge, Talayeh. You are an Exalt, but you are still human." He sipped the wine. "And this is the best place for you to." Setting down the cup, Dreamer stretched. "Anyways, when you are not doing any of such pastimes as such as I listed, what do you do?"  
  
Talayeh finished the set, and looked at him with a frown. "Sleep, I suppose."  
  
"I see. With men or women?"  
  
Talayeh's stomach lurched, and she turned, her eyes wide and her body rigid. "... You are joking."  
  
Dreamer laughed lightly. "Hardly, Talayeh. I'm curious about you. That involves also your most intimate aspects."  
  
She stood there for a moment, trying to decide if she should attempt to strangle him for his audacity, or keep her temper. She took a deep breath and shook her head. "I do not sleep with people."  
  
"... So you are a virgin." The Eclipse's eyebrows shot up, pressing his hands together as he leaned back. "Have you ever even thought of what it could be like?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Sex, Talayeh. You have to be one of the most beautiful women mortal or divine can lay eyes on, and yet you are untouched by any. Don't you ever look at someone and wonder what it would be like?" He stood up again, studying her with hooded eyes as he spoke softly, loosening the collar of his shirt. "How it would feel to be kissed, to be touched in a way intended to make you lose control, to actually fall apart in someone's hands?"  
  
The Night felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise up as the other Solar began to walk around the small room, speaking smoothly and gently. She shut her eyes to ignore him, rocking onto her heels in an offensive stance, ripping away her attention to focus on martial arts.  
  
"Why would I? I have seen what happens when others lose control, why would I even want to do it? All it brings is disaster if you lose your mind in battle."  
  
"Is everything a conflict to you, Talayeh? Must you always be perfectly composed, not a word raised? Come to think of it... You have not once shouted, ever. Your voice is always so very perfectly soft, even when you are full of emotion..."  
  
"There is more power in words tightly reined, more energy conserved for later arguments."  
  
"Yes, yes, but is everything a campaign to you, Talayeh? You are a Night, not a Dawn! Do you not think that once in a while, hidden away in the shadows, you could open your arms to it?" His voice drifted from behind her, and she spun to face him, though she kept her eyes shut. The only thing that warned her of him approaching was the strange scent that he always had, foreign but sweet and heated, something of spice lacing all of it.  
  
Just as she smelled him, she feel his hands encompass her wrists, and brought them down, his voice low and in her ear. "Can you imagine how it feels, to take another person's raw passion inside you," He whispered, his hands warm enough to be felt though orichalcum already warmed by essence, "entwining it with your own to bring forth an array of exquisite sensations?"  
  
Talayeh felt compelled to slowly open her eyes, shuddering as she shook her head, looking away, ignoring the sensation of her face burning.  
  
For a moment, Dreamer's grip looses, and he lets out a soft sigh. "I see. You haven't even thought about it..." Again, in a quick motion, he took both of her wrists in one hand, and took her chin in the other, turning it towards him with a smirk. "Well, then, I suppose I'll have to give you a demonstration. But first... We need to even the odds in this. It's simply not right that you have weapons here..." His caste mark, by then a gentle glitter blazed forth gold, and his body framed with essence, "After all, who would attack us here?"  
  
She knew he used a charm... But his words seemed so perfectly reasonable, and more importantly, why would he use a charm to command? Talayeh bit her lip, relaxing her fists and letting Dreamer slide off her bracers and her gauntlets in one swift motion. It took a split second for her to realize that something was wrong as he dove in to kiss her hungrily, taking advantage of her parted lips to slip his tongue into her mouth. For some reason, he tasted sweet, as if he had eaten both a piece of Apple's sunfruit and a piece of Kimiya's chocolate. The surprise of it stopped her again for another second, before she viciously bit down on his tongue.  
  
There was a strangled sound as Dreamer froze, and then chuckled as he broke the kiss, turning his head to spit out blood. "Cute." A glowing hand pulled her glowering face closer. "But you apparently forgot a few details in this encounter..." He released her wrists, stepping back somewhat with a small smile.  
  
"Like what, Dreamer?" Talayeh turned her head to spit out the blood in her mouth and gracefully evaded Dreamer's lunge, her own caste mark glittering. Even with her use of essence, he was able to barely brush his fingers across her, a shiver of essence flickering near her shoulder. He followed behind her as she spun, laughing softly.  
  
"I consider this foreplay!" Dreamer kissed the back of her neck, grunting as he takes another blow from her elbow. He grabbed her arm and turned her to face him, kissing her again, though he had enough sense to not risk being bitten again as he wrapped his arm around her waist to restrain her. Gently lifting her chin up, he began to kiss just above her collar, carefully working at the rest of the buckles of her buff jacket. "Pain is a part of the experience for me, sweet Talayeh..."  
  
Talayeh swayed slightly, her mind tittering in between trying to struggle or just collapsing to avoid the experience entirely. The most terrifying part of it, what made her heart lurch, was the fact even with the Eclipse taking control, doing what he wanted, it was ... entrancing. She had never let anyone get so close to her, even armed... The mere fact that she was alone, without her most powerful weapons, facing something that seemed more alien than even the Eclipse forcing her.  
  
"There we go..." A soft, coaxing whisper as Dreamer's hands opened her buff jacket and pushed it off her shoulders with a sigh. "... I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you..." A soft caress down in between her breasts as he looked back into her eyes, "Wear such modest garb... Useful, I suppose. Your Circle won't notice our play..."  
  
Talayeh sucked in a breath as his nails dug into the side of her breast, and on reflex, lashed out angrily with her fist into his stomach. With a choking laugh, Dreamer slapped her with the same hand before grabbing her chin and kissing her hungrily, unlacing her shirt. With a shallow whimper, Talayeh shut her eyes and took a deep breath, deliberately parting her lips.  
  
The Eclipse groaned softly, returning an arm around her waist as he slid his tongue back into her mouth. "Mm, that's it..." Then it was Dreamer's turn to suck in a breath as Talayeh pushed him down, tearing at his clothes as she bit down on his lips, whimpering hungrily. Something had broke in herself, her body burning and throbbing almost painfully. All she knew, felt was that she was hollow and crying out for something, for something coppery in her mouth, for foreign sounds and sensations...  
  
Dreamer's hands stilled her, and Talayeh blinked, her composure returning in a heartbeat. She was straddling the man who drove her half-mad, practically naked, with his hands on her breasts, both of their bodies spreckled with blood glowing ruby in the light of Dreamer's anima, something hot pushing against the crux of her legs.  
  
With a sly grin, he hooked his thumbs under her leggings and slid them down, leaning up to set teeth on her throat. "Lift up, sweet."  
  
Talayeh shook her head, trying to remove the fog in her mind as she began to get up. "Nn...No..." She had to leave. No one would notice her nudity if she took her cloak with her and used Stealth charms. No. That would be admitting defeat. She balled up her fist and lunged at him again.  
  
Dreamer laughed breathlessly, rolling away from her attack, quickly getting onto his feet. "Now, now, Talayeh." Within a second, she was slammed against a wall, pressed up against the Crowned Sun's chest, her fists trapped in between, "I understand you are a fighter, but..." He rested his forehead on hers. "Sometimes, you must stop struggling... and..." He pushed the leggings over her hips, allowing them to fall down to the floor with a soft flutter, "And surrender." He lightly danced his fingertips down in between them, studying her reaction as he touched her thighs and smiling at her looking away, breathing shallowly. "So tense. I know what will relax you..."  
  
The Night caste muffled a shocked cry, her body shuddering as something slender parted the folds of flesh in between her thighs, toying with something sensitive enough that she whimpered again, almost helplessly parting her legs to encourage him, her fingers relaxing. Whatever he was doing felt, for a lack of a better word, heavenly, enough that she let her eyes drift shut. Giving up sounded reasonable at this point, if this was all that would happen... She tilted her head up again, resting the back of her head on the cool wall, taking a slow breath as her nails dug into his chest.  
  
"Yes..." Dreamer kissed her mouth again, increasing his force as her nails began to draw blood, toying with the small point with one hand and tugging at a dusky nipple with the other. "Just feel." He pulled down on her shoulder, guiding her to sitting in his lap, again feeling an almost boiling heat as he bit down on her mouth lightly.  
  
She groaned, grinding wordlessly against his... hand? Hips? Her mind was fogging again, and at this point, she couldn't care less... Even as suddenly, she winced, something slipping into her with an touch of pain, her body clutching down on the intrusion. A small sigh of despairing relief parted her lips, shifting into a startled cry as the sensation returned, and left again, pumping in and out as the Eclipse set nails in her breast, moans shivering up and down Talayeh's spine. He stilled for a moment, looking at her with a faint smirk as he moved his hands, adjusting something and tilting his own head back with a sigh before returning his gaze to her, lifting her hips up.  
  
"It's really rather simple, isn't it? To just give in?" He smiled coolly, made colder by the golden light surrounding him, adjusting himself to settle something just where she felt so painfully empty. "To just feel, and be claimed. For now..." He shoved her hips down, and it hurt but-  
  
Talayeh woke up, sitting straight up from the pallet, silently gasping for air. She touched her face frantically, relaxing as she touched the bandages on her face, checked her clothes, breathing heavily as her face burned and her body ached. The Night looked out the window at the dawn, frowning to herself and shivering in the freezing air. As she opened the window, she took a deep breath, her burning cheeks hidden away.  
  
"... Just a dream. Oh thank the Sun..."  
  
*  
  
Dreamer of Glorious Light watched the sunrise, sipping a cup of tea as he patiently waited. He knew that she'd be awake soon, and so he would have company. The Eclipse poured a second cup, more of a bowl, full of tea, smiling cheerfully as he willed essence into his eyes to allow him to see spirits in Creation. It had confused him the first time that he had learned that gods often did not have a material form in Creation, but he was now accustomed to it, and it allowed him to relax.  
  
A clearing of a throat. Looking up with the bowl of tea in his hands, Dreamer smiled at the fluttering figure, offering it the cup. It was a strange, beautiful being, made of green-gold featherglass wings that he knew could cut him easily if he was not careful, but that was the reason why he liked the dream fly so. "Good morning, Razor Ribbon Dancer. I hope my request did not give too much trouble."  
  
"Not at all, Dreamer." The dream fly dipped into the tea with a splash, and the Solar gently set it on the stone next to the fire. "Your payment was grand, and the request was a pleasure. You didn't tell me how beautiful she was!"  
  
Dreamer chuckled. "Yes, Talayeh is quite exquiste... I trust you to not tell anyone of her? She is dreadfully sensitive about it."  
  
The dream fly nodded, flicking tea about as her wings flapped. "Of course. You said that you wanted to know what was in the dream too."  
  
Dreamer's face lit up. "Of course! That was the other half of the bargain, after all. To withdraw it is to break the oath."  
  
Razor Ribbon Dancer pouted, giving him the acorn-shaped container. "Dream of one Talayeh, using her deepest fantasies." She bowed. "Now, there were others I saw, still dreaming. If you have no more use for me, I'll be off."  
  
The Eclipse smiled, nodding. "Thank you, Razor. I hope that you have a pleasant time." Once the dream fly floated off, he gently cradled the dreamstone, lavender streaked with black and white lightning, a reflection of what were obviously stormy passions... He let his mind drift and be caught by the stone.  
  
After several long minutes, he dropped the stone on the soft sand, staring at it. He took a slow deep breath, a smile curling up on his lips. "So... my sweet Talayeh. That is it?" He laughed softly as he picked up the stone and pocketed it with a lingering caress, a laugh that began to grow in a peal of laughter. After he fully recovered, he took a deep breath, smiling at the spires of Gan-eidn, knowing that Talayeh was as he had hoped.  
  
"Yes!" He bowed in the direction of the towers. "You'll have that dream coming true in time... When you are in my arms, my Wolf..."


End file.
